Maziarz cheers National Grid rate decrease

by jmaloni

Press release

Tue, Mar 19th 2013 08:55 am

State Sen. George
Maziarz said Monday he was pleased to learn the New York State Public
Service Commission recently adopted a three-year rate plan for
National Grid electric and natural gas that will reduce rates for
upstate operations, with customers expecting to see lower bills next
month. The significant savings to customers comes largely from the
expiration of a $190 million surcharge called the competitive
transition charge. The continued necessity of this charge was an
issue first raised by Maziarz at a hearing three years ago.

In 2010, the Senate
energy and telecommunications committee held a hearing related to
National Grid's expenditures and proposed rate increases. During
that hearing, Maziarz expressed great concern over the extended
inclusion of the competitive transition charge, a surcharge that is
paid by ratepayers to help companies transition from a
non-competitive to a competitive marketplace. Since the hearing,
Maziarz has worked cooperatively with National Grid toward reducing
this charge. Through the adopted plan, this charge will expire, which
will lead to great savings for residents.

"This surcharge
was of concern to me three years ago, and was something that I have
been working with National Grid to eliminate for some time now,"
said Maziarz, who is chairman of the Senate energy and
telecommunications committee. "The elimination of this surcharge
produces a large savings for ratepayers, and I commend National Grid
for including this elimination in their three-year plan. I have long
been committed to reducing electric rates for residents and I will
continue to advocate for even lower rates moving forward."

The adopted plan
will see the average residential electric bill decrease by about 6.6
percent and the average residential gas bill decrease by about 4
percent. Likewise, the delivery charges for year one of the plan will
decrease by 8.7 percent from the current rate, and while year's two
and three will see a slight increase of 2.8 percent, this rate will
still be almost 6 percent lower than it is today.

"When I raised
questions about this surcharge over three years ago, I did so to
fight for the fair and proper utility charges for New York state
residents," Maziarz said. "I thank National Grid for working with
me and showing real leadership on this important issue. Eliminating
this surcharge is the right thing to do and it will save my
constituents money at a time when that savings is badly needed."